This Day in History: 7 May 2020
7 May 1896
124 years ago, today, Dr H. H. Holmes, one of the most well-known serial killers, was hanged to death in Pennsylvania. From a young age, Holmes began torturing animals, even though he would still later on graduate with a medical degree. Morbidly, his education was funded with insurance scams, as he requested the coverage for non-existent people, and presented corpses as the insured. Holmes moved to Chicago in 1886 to work at a pharmacy, which he purchased later on from a widow, who mysteriously disappeared. Using a new series of cons, he raised enough money to build an elaborate home across from his shop.
Holmes named this home 'The Castle', and it had secret passageways, fake walls, and even trapdoors. Some of the rooms were built to be soundproof and were connected by pipes to a gas tank in the basement. His own bedroom in the house had controls that were able to fill these rooms with the gas. Young women in the area, including tourists who wanted to see the 1893 World Fair, had rented out rooms in the house, but they suddenly began to disappear. Holmes was finally caught during an insurance scam, causing him to confess, saying "I was born with the devil in me". He reasoned for his murders stating that "I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing". It is suspected that Holmes' number of victims exceeds 200, and a book about the serial killer was published in 2003, entitled 'Devil in the White City', by Erik Larson.
Want to find out more about H. H. Holmes and his murder spree? Click here for more information, or here for more on his murder castle.
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